a folding dinghy sailboat

barquito:
Spanish for little boat

- Foredeck -

The stem piece is
a critical structure in the folding boat. It supports the foredeck,
stiffens the hull, stabilizes the interlocking bow plate and forms the bottom of
a simple mast step.

I laminated
plywood and luan together with waterproof glue. After careful
measuring and trial fitting, I cut out the basic shape. Pieces of scrap
wood
were fastened to the bow edge of the stem. Notice the dado I hand-cut into
the top of the stem.

The foredeck will
slide into the dado. A rope handle
will fit into the hole in the top of the bow stem. Screws through aluminum
angle fasten the stem piece to the hull, keeping it permanently in place.
Believe it or not, the hull sides will fold around the stem and even the post.

I call this a
foredeck instead of a seat because the balance of the hull would be thrown off
if an adult sat in the bow. Also if
used as a seat when sailing, the mast and sail would be in the way. Later photos will show that
in comparison to the other seats it is located higher in the hull and therefore
less stable as a seat.

After the
foredeck was fitted, I attached support brackets to hold the sides.
Previously, I mentioned that I had cut an inch off the top of the hull. I
used a portion of this as the bottom support. Scraps from the stem
post were used for the bracket on top.

Next I made a
trim piece out of some walnut that I had. Along with the side
supports, this trim also keeps the foredeck firmly in place. The
second photo above shows
two pieces of angle aluminum added to the stem post. The pieces will
mate with others on the bow plate to add even more stability to the stem
assembly. I used a file to round off the bottom edges of these
pieces so they wouldn't cut the PVC bow fabric when the hull is folded.

Here is a view
from the center thwart. This shows how the top of the foredeck is really close to the top edge of the
gunwales. This completed all the mechanical fittings for the
bow. The next step was to install the PVC fabric on the bow.

I turned the hull over and put the PVC fabric under the first layer of the
exterior keel plate. I fastened it with caulk and screws. Then I
turned the hull right side up and began to fasten the fabric to the sides of the
hull at the bow. The picture shows what it looked like at this point.

The fabric from
the bottom was caulked and stretched tight first.

Next the fabric
from the front of the bow was caulked and stretched tight. Notice the top
edge was pulled under the leading edge of the rub rail, which was not yet
fastened to the hull at the bow.

Then the fabric
from the hinge was caulked and pulled flat and smooth. Looking back on
this, I think it would have been better to caulk this piece first and then
cover it with the fabric from the bow. I'll do it that way at the
stern transom.

The bow batten
plate was added and fastened with screws. With the foredeck in place, the
clamps and string held the hull tightly against the bow so I could get a tight
fit of the fabric during this part of the assembly.